Below are some top WWE news stories of the day.
• New World Tag Team Champion Ivar recently opened up on “INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet” about overcoming a neck injury that nearly ended his career.
The injury initially occurred during a match with Ricochet and worsened during a bout for the North American Championship in NXT, leaving Ivar with no strength in his right arm. An MRI revealed a herniated disc above a previously fused area, leading doctors to warn that his wrestling career might be over.
After days of uncertainty and mental health support preparation, Ivar’s surgeon determined the injury could be managed without surgery. Through rehabilitation and yoga, Ivar regained strength and mobility, though he continues to deal with permanent nerve pain and occasional stiffness.
Since his recovery, Ivar has returned to the ring and, alongside Erik, captured the World Tag Team Titles on this week’s RAW.
Despite lingering challenges, Ivar expressed gratitude for his current quality of life and ability to continue wrestling:
“So I’m pretty good now. To be fair, I do have permanent nerve damage and nerve pain in my hands, and that will never go away. That’s something I live with, but as far as everything else, I got most of my mobility back to my neck.
It’s a little stiff now because I have another herniation, but I still have a very good range of motion. I credit that to yoga, pretty much.
All my strength has returned to my arm, so I have no problems there, so it’s really just the nerve pain right now from the original injury that I have that’s permanent.
I have good days and bad days. Some days I can really feel it. It goes down my arm a little bit, and some days I can’t feel it. It all kind of depends, but quality of life, I feel pretty good.”
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• As WWE gears up for Monday Night RAW’s Netflix debut on January 6th, Drew McIntyre is expected to play a pivotal role in 2025.
Having had a standout year with major feuds, including a victory over Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 40 and 3 PLE matches against CM Punk, McIntyre is currently involved in a storyline with Sami Zayn and Jey Uso.
WrestleVotes reports that McIntyre will remain a significant focus in WWE’s plans for the coming year:
“So with the recent return of Drew McIntyre, we were told from a source that WWE feels as though McIntyre is on the cusp, if not already there, of becoming a ‘significant main event, upper echelon attraction’, and they attribute some of this to his work over the last 10 months with CM Punk.
A source states that McIntyre’s viral comments on Busted Open Radio last week were not scripted in any way and that WWE loved the reaction to what went down. We are told McIntyre will be a huge focus as we head into 2025.”
